Taisho Roman: Fever Dreams of the Great Rectitude

“Taisho is the best,”
Seijun Suzuki would wryly proclaim when considering the period of his birth. A new era born from the passing of Meiji, the Taisho period, with its elaborate, decadent fantasies, amounts to Japan’s own belle epoque–a short-lived age where Western thought, modernization, liberalism and arts would convene. Coined in reflective terms, “Taisho Roman” (short for romanticism) brings a nostalgia for the libertine prewar era that preceded the militaristic Showa and its flagrant imperialist displays. A time of juxtapositions amidst the proliferation of changing mores, social trends and attitudes—from the blending of Western and Japanese cultures to the rise of hedonistic ideals, Taisho democracy and the beginnings of ero guro—the all-too-brief epoch, which dates from 1912 to 1926, signified “great righteousness” or “rectitude.” Its tranquility, however, was abruptly upended with the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, followed by a tide of ethnic and political violence, rising militarism and the death of the sickly Emperor Taisho in 1926. Drawing inspiration from the otherworldly writings of Kyoka Izumi, Hyakken Uchida, Kyusaku Yumeno and beyond, Taisho Roman presents films from some of Japan’s most radical and outré filmmakers—Shuji Terayama, Toshio Matsumoto and Akio Jissoji—whose approach to the prosperous period is marked by creative, daring and distorted reimaginings. The results are ghostly works in iridescence, offering a nostalgia for a bygone age that never existed.

Buy Tickets Schedule

“Taisho is the best,”
Seijun Suzuki would wryly proclaim when considering the period of his birth. A new era born from the passing of Meiji, the Taisho period, with its elaborate, decadent fantasies, amounts to Japan’s own belle epoque–a short-lived age where Western thought, modernization, liberalism and arts would convene. Coined in reflective terms, “Taisho Roman” (short for romanticism) brings a nostalgia for the libertine prewar era that preceded the militaristic Showa and its flagrant imperialist displays. A time of juxtapositions amidst the proliferation of changing mores, social trends and attitudes—from the blending of Western and Japanese cultures to the rise of hedonistic ideals, Taisho democracy and the beginnings of ero guro—the all-too-brief epoch, which dates from 1912 to 1926, signified “great righteousness” or “rectitude.” Its tranquility, however, was abruptly upended with the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, followed by a tide of ethnic and political violence, rising militarism and the death of the sickly Emperor Taisho in 1926. Drawing inspiration from the otherworldly writings of Kyoka Izumi, Hyakken Uchida, Kyusaku Yumeno and beyond, Taisho Roman presents films from some of Japan’s most radical and outré filmmakers—Shuji Terayama, Toshio Matsumoto and Akio Jissoji—whose approach to the prosperous period is marked by creative, daring and distorted reimaginings. The results are ghostly works in iridescence, offering a nostalgia for a bygone age that never existed.

Buy Tickets Schedule

“One of the many fascinations or attractions of Dogra Magra is its story structure. Not only the ireko (nested layers) of a play within a play, but its circular structure presents a “twist” resembling the Möbius strip as described by Professor Matsumoto.” —Shuji Shibata, Producer of Dogra Magra

Read our exclusive interview with Shibata.

Buy Tickets Banner to Taisho Roman film series inset

Dogra Magra
ドグラ・マグラ

Saturday December 9, 6 pm

35th Anniversary—Imported 35mm Print. The final feature by Funeral Parade of Roses’ Toshio Matsumoto, Dogra Magra adapts the classic Kyusaku Yumeno avant-garde novel into a tapestry of alternating histories, resulting in a whirlwind tragedy brought on by fantasies of eternal recurrence.

1988. 109 min. Directed by Toshio Matsumoto.

Dogra Magra
ドグラ・マグラ

Saturday December 9, 6 pm
Friday, December 15, 9 pm

35th Anniversary—Imported 35mm Print. The final feature by Funeral Parade of Roses’ Toshio Matsumoto, Dogra Magra adapts the classic Kyusaku Yumeno avant-garde novel into a tapestry of alternating histories, resulting in a whirlwind tragedy brought on by fantasies of eternal recurrence.

1988. 109 min. Directed by Toshio Matsumoto.

Grass Labyrinth
草迷宮

Saturday, December 9, 8:30 pm

Imported 35mm Print. A labyrinthine voyage into the past, Shuji Terayama’s haunting childhood melancholia finds a young man searching for the forgotten verses of a childhood lullaby.

1979. 40 min. Directed by Shuji Terayama.

Grass Labyrinth
草迷宮

Saturday, December 9, 8:30 pm

Imported 35mm Print. A labyrinthine voyage into the past, Shuji Terayama’s haunting childhood melancholia finds a young man searching for the forgotten verses of a childhood lullaby.

1979. 40 min. Directed by Shuji Terayama.

A Page of Madness / Grass Labyrinth
狂った一頁 / 草迷宮

Friday, December 15, 6 pm

A double-feature of Kinugasa’s avant-garde silent-era masterpiece paired with Terayama’s garish psychosexual adaptation of a Kyoka Izumi novella.

1926 & 1979. 99 min. Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa; Directed by Shuji Terayama.

A Page of Madness / Grass Labyrinth
狂った一頁 / 草迷宮

Friday, December 15, 6 pm

A double-feature of Kinugasa’s avant-garde silent-era masterpiece paired with Terayama’s garish psychosexual adaptation of a Kyoka Izumi novella.

1926 & 1979. 99 min. Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa; Directed by Shuji Terayama.

Dogra Magra
ドグラ・マグラ

Friday, December 15, 9 pm

35th Anniversary—Imported 35mm Print. The final feature by Funeral Parade of Roses’ Toshio Matsumoto, Dogra Magra adapts the classic Kyusaku Yumeno avant-garde novel into a tapestry of alternating histories, resulting in a whirlwind tragedy brought on by fantasies of eternal recurrence.

1988. 109 min. Directed by Toshio Matsumoto.

Dogra Magra
ドグラ・マグラ

Friday, December 15, 9 pm

35th Anniversary—Imported 35mm Print. The final feature by Funeral Parade of Roses’ Toshio Matsumoto, Dogra Magra adapts the classic Kyusaku Yumeno avant-garde novel into a tapestry of alternating histories, resulting in a whirlwind tragedy brought on by fantasies of eternal recurrence.

1988. 109 min. Directed by Toshio Matsumoto.

Horrors of Malformed Men
江戸川乱歩全集　恐怖奇形人間

Saturday, December 16, 3 pm

Macabre and brooding, Teruo Ishii’s transgressive Toei exploitation feature is a hallucinatory descent into madness, the rare Edogawa Ranpo adaptation that truly evokes and evinces its author’s macabre sensibilities.

1969. 99 min. Directed by Teruo Ishii.

Horrors of Malformed Men
江戸川乱歩全集　恐怖奇形人間

Saturday, December 16, 3 pm

Macabre and brooding, Teruo Ishii’s transgressive Toei exploitation feature is a hallucinatory descent into madness, the rare Edogawa Ranpo adaptation that truly evokes and evinces its author’s macabre sensibilities.

1969. 99 min. Directed by Teruo Ishii.

Zigeunerweisen
ツィゴイネルワイゼン

Saturday, December 16, 5 pm

International Premiere of 4K Restoration. An indulgent masterwork of sheer creative bravura from Japan’s “magician of images,” Zigeunerweisen is a patchwork of episodic digressions, interludes and puzzling parables that ruminates on peculiar events that befall a love triangle in Taisho-era Japan.

1980. 145 min. Directed by Seijun Suzuki.

Zigeunerweisen
ツィゴイネルワイゼン

Saturday, December 16, 5 pm

International Premiere of 4K Restoration. An indulgent masterwork of sheer creative bravura from Japan’s “magician of images,” Zigeunerweisen is a patchwork of episodic digressions, interludes and puzzling parables that ruminates on peculiar events that befall a love triangle in Taisho-era Japan.

1980. 145 min. Directed by Seijun Suzuki.

Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
帝都物語

Saturday, December 16, 8 pm

35th Anniversary. A resurrected 10th-century general hellbent on bringing about the fall of Tokyo drives the narrative in Akio Jissoji’s occult retelling of the history of Tokyo, imbued with dark fantasy, horror and folkloric histories.

1988. 118 min. Directed by Akio Jissoji.

Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
帝都物語

Saturday, December 16, 8 pm

35th Anniversary. A resurrected 10th-century general hellbent on bringing about the fall of Tokyo drives the narrative in Akio Jissoji’s occult retelling of the history of Tokyo, imbued with dark fantasy, horror and folkloric histories.

1988. 118 min. Directed by Akio Jissoji.

Artwork generated with the use of AI tools.

Special Thanks to Bret Berg (AGFA); Laurence Braunberger & Frédérique Ros (Films du Jeudi); Mako Fukata; Beth Rennie (George Eastman Museum); Shun Inoue & Akinaru Rokkaku (Japan Foundation); Daniel Joseph; Carl Morano (Media Blasters); Rikako Kosugiyama & Jo Osawa (National Film Archive of Japan); Shuji Shibata, producer of Dogra Magra.

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, David Toberisky, and Friends of Film. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film. Housing assistance is provided by the Kitano Hotel, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film.